Bring Back the Era Book 2: The Soldier
by Vickie1
Summary: Someone's after the box and this time it's an alien called Ryo-Mew-Ki. The Animorphs end up recruiting her but gets trouble instead. Will Kaoru allow this Perinduro to get away when she has a crush on Ax? R'N'R! NEW CH UP!
1. Chapter 1: Kaoru: Stranger

**Chapter 1**

_Verdaifei Two-hundred-thirty_

Ryo-Mew-Ki, Rank: Perinduro GP-Solider 725, has still not found Prince Elfangor-Sirinial- Shamtul's Escafil Device. I need to find who took it. I have two suspects so far; Yeerk Controllers HISS! or humans. Which has it? I don't know. But I will find it! I'm not scared! I laugh in the face of danger! Bwhaa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa-hee-hee-hee-heh...

...Who am I kidding? I wanna go back home. I'm cold, hungry, tried and want to eat megai berries.

But I cannot go back. No matter what, I will find it. I have to. Otherwise...I won't be forgiven. It was my fault I lost it.

I am now staying under a shelter where three humans live above. I have found a hole accessing into a room below the shelter. The humans are making a lot of noises above me. Didn't think humans can be so noisy.

This will be my place for the time being. Now, time to look for some rations.

_End of Verdaifei Two-hundred-thirty

* * *

_

**Kaoru**

My name is Kaoru. Real name. But my present codename is Zoe. You can call me either one if you like. It doesn't really matter. Okay, maybe it matters. Just call me Kaoru in my missions and Zoe in my life. But I can't tell you my last name or where I live. Not that I'm being different.

"Yaaaa!"

Okay, so maybe Takehiro and me are different in a way.

KACHING!

A hit! Did Takehiro get him?

"Bw-ha! You still have a long way to beat me!"

"Where are you, old man!" Takehiro hissed.

He must be around. But where?

_Focus, Kaoru. Focus. ...He's there!_

"Yaaaaa!" I screamed.

KA-KANG!

"Did I get him?" I wondered.

"N-No... But you got me..." someone moaned.

"Takehiro?" I looked through under my blindfold. And then...

KA-THWAK!

Grandpa's bamboo sword hit me right on the head. I collided and groaned in pain, holding my head. Grandpa bellowed.

"Like I said, you still have a long way to beat me," he laughed.

Takehiro and I looked up, rubbing the sores on our heads.

"Just how the heck are we supposed fight without seeing?" Takehiro snapped.

"And how the heck can we tell who's friend and foe?" I barked. "I nearly hit him."

"You must open your other senses wider and tell the differences of who is friend or foe," Grandpa explained. "That's part of this lesson."

Heh. Could be easier if you were a bat and echolocation was your guidance.

...Okay, maybe we are different in a sense of way. But this is our culture.

There is a reason why Takehiro, which his present codename is Zack, and I can't tell you our last name and where we live. And no, we don't live in Japan. We used to but not anymore.

And you need to know this. About what is happening to Earth, to humanity.

There is an alien invasion that goes about secretly. A parasitic species called Yeerks, from a far-distant planet, are invading Earth and want a source. Human hosts.

And you ask how the heck some parasitic species the size of slugs can do that without being noticed? Simple. They enter through the ear canal and drill their way into the crevices on the surface of a human brain. It's like a computer chip in a computer. Only the Yeerk controls you, knows your thoughts and memories. You'll become a slave, a helpless slave to the Yeerks.

They're known as Controllers, slaves to the Yeerks. So far, the Yeerks have already taken over control of a whole species of Hork-Bajir and Taxxons. Now they want us. Humans. Humans capable of doing almost anything.

Sure, you all think I'm crazy and am need of paramedic. No, I am not crazy and I do not need paramedic. As what Grandpa told me, 'A samurai's word is truth'.

If there's the bad side of the universe, there's the good side. Andalites. They're fighting against the Yeerks, trying to outsmart and outfight the Yeerks. Sometimes they have their loses and wins...

But they're not the only ones fighting. There's a small group called the Animorphs right here on Earth fighting against the Yeerks with a special ability to morph into any animal they acquire.

Who are they?

We are 'them'.

Who's 'we'?

There's Jake, the fearless leader.

Rachel, the warrior-princess and Jake's cousin.

Marco, the smart-aleck friend of Jake. He's really an idiot to my point of view.

Cassie, the expert when it comes to animals and the fastest morpher or known as _Estreen_.

Tobias, a red-tailed hawk. He was once human but overstayed the time limit of morphing and is now struck as a red-tailed hawk. This is what you might say a curse when having this ability.

Takehiro, the fighter who uses martial-arts and my over-protected twin brother. He is gifted with the Shields of Karine. He can protect just by summoning a powerful shield from his own battle aura.

Aximill-Esgarrouth-Isthill, or Ax for short, an Andalite. From what I heard, he was the only survivor to make it alive on Earth and joined the team. He happens to be Elfangor's brother. Elfangor was the one who gave the power to morph to us human kids.

...Well, except me at that time. I had run away because of a dark past that once haunted me.

And lastly, me, Kaoru, the girl that can see everything deeply. Takehiro isn't the only one gifted. I am gifted with the Eyes of Karine. As Ax said that having the Eyes of Karine, I can see who's a Controller, who's not, what will happen today and tomorrow and one's thoughts, dreams and fears. Actually, I only began using this power so, basically, I only see visions. Takehiro and I don't have absolute control over another power called the Jauria Knight Armors yet.

And what is Karine? It's a source of power that only Jaurias, a peaceful race in another part of the galaxy who apparently doesn't know about the Yeerks invasion, can use. How come we two have that power? We don't know either but we do know my brother and I are somehow connected to the Jaurias.

As a team, we work together to fight the Yeerks and ever one alien that the Yeerks even fear the most. Visser Three. He is of course a Yeerk in the mind of an Andalite. He's the only one who's pure evil and can morph.

Now you know that there's life in outer space and one part of it is trying to take over the whole universe.

It would be helpful if any other intelligent species could help the Andalites and overcome the Yeerks. It would be helpful if we had some help. I mean, the more the merrier.

Right?

"Oooh," I groaned as I crashed onto Takehiro's bed. A whole morning of kendo and finally a break. I was alone in my room. Actually, Takehiro and I shared it.

We live in a bungalow with one elder and a little cousin that Takehiro always call her demon. Don't know what his problem. Emily's a nice six-year-old girl.

The room was quiet. I only heard Paws running inside his wheel. Paws is our pet ferret, the one who found the box and changed my whole life around. Talk about an upside-down world.

I sat up and gazed at myself in the mirror. My black hair was matted, even though it is tied in a ponytail. I was quite built but a little skinny. My skin was pale beige because it's been a long time since I've ever taken a tan.

One thing that was unusual was my eyes. They were blue. You never seen a person with black hair and blue eyes, right?

Well, I'm not the only person. Takehiro has the same blue eyes too. We're twins of course.

Takehiro may not look like my twin anymore. He's now got short hair, between brawny and average. When we were kids, our parents could even tell the different between us so we always switched places and confused them. It was fun back then.

That was before I had the worst time of my life. Also, Takehiro's.

When we turned five, our dad left us. We don't know why but I know he'd come back. Takehiro doesn't think that.

At age ten, my best friend, Sakura was murdered. Our dojo was attacked by a bunch of gangsters and that was when I went insane. I killed them all with a sword.

And we had to leave Japan when we were older. Leave everyone before. Miaso, mom, our group (can't tell you what's the group's name. It's our oath) and our friends.

We really missed them.

But that's all in the past. I had a new beginning. A new start.

Thanks to a certain Ellimist and three Guardians of Karine.

Guardians of Karine are actually beings that give the power of Karine to whoever is their master. They are 'fated' to aid the master. There are as many Guardians as you can count stars. But out of these Guardians are the most powerful ones, said to have been born from within the planets.

Since I have the Eyes of Karine, I'm the Master of three Guardians: Mercurdhe the fire dragon from Mercury, Marigaya the water dragon from Mars and Earthegra the air dragon from Earth.

Takehiro, having the Shields of Karine, is the Master of another three: Juretoji the electricity dragon from Jupiter, Plutium the ice dragon from Pluto and Saturain the rock dragon from Saturn.

We haven't found out why we have the powers of Karine and the Jauria Knight Armor. Only that the royal family of Jaurias can own those powers. But I guess the answers will come to us someday.

Or will not. Who knows.

"Kaoru?" Takehiro called. "What happened to the rice-cakes you just made this morning?"

I looked at him dumbfounded. "They should be in the kitchen."

"Well, they're not there anymore."

"But I just put a load of rice-cakes there," I declared. "Maybe Emily must have taken it."

"Now do tell me how can an six-year-old eat eight rice-cakes?" he asked.

"Um... Big appetite?" I said, shrugging my shoulders. "Hey, didn't Cassie say she was going to hide the you-know-what box?"

"Yeah. And needed some help taking care of the animals," Takehiro said, wiping his forehead with a towel.

Since Takehiro is a sucker for animals, he volunteered to help Cassie out whenever he has free time.

"Now the decision comes to this. Should we continue kendo or help Cassie?" I asked him.

Before he answered that, Grandpa called. "If you're not busy today, we can continue the lesson. This time, I'll be blindfolded. Let's see if you can beat an old, blind man again."

He laughed.

Being blindfolded was bad enough but having to try and beat an expert on kendo blindfolded is worse! We tried that once and we were easily defeated.

"Bye, Grandpa!" Takehiro shouted, taking his bag.

"We gotta help Cassie with a few things!" I told Grandpa, running after Takehiro before Grandpa would do anything to us.

I could have sworn I heard sounds from the trees. Maybe it was my imagination.

* * *

A/N: To all my readers who have read A Twist of Fate Book 1: The Recruit, here's the second book you all have been waiting for, The Solider! Through each chapter may take time as I want to update my (nearly-dead) fanfic, Strands of Destine as much as possible. Geez, that fanfic is much longer than my Twist of Fate series. :P Feel free to read it if you like (and do please read it. I'm begging on my knees here Cries). In the meantime, hope you like this second book. R'n'R!

Baranth - ...You really do like dragons, don't you? Well, to tell you the truth I've already used a race of humanoid dragons in my other fanfic, Strands of Destiny so I can't used that for Animorphs. These humanoid dragons I made in SoD are called dragonoids, a clan that have dragon and human appearances but are partly mechanical organisms. I've already introduced one certain dragonoid in SoD Chapter Nine and there will be more of her coming in future chapters. Sorry I can't think of an alien race of uh, dragonoids, cuz I've used up my idea. Gomen! But if you like dragons, then I suggest you read the rest of the first book of Twist of Fate, cuz I added six dragons in there. And SoD has a lot of dragons popping out. Anyway, thanks for the review and I'm really sorry I can't do your request. Me sorry. Me really sorry. Me-

Aurora: Punches authoress in the face Would you shut up and get on with the reviews?

Ouch...

Tigerlily-2250 – You bet! With Ryo-Mew-Ki in it, there's gonna be a lot of trouble and mayhem for the Animorphs. :P

Aurora: Or is it you just like to torment them? ¬¬

Ignores her OC Thanks for reviewing!

Anonymous-cat – Yes, Ryo-Mew-Ki has feline traits. She's a cat alien in the first place, a Perinduro. Thanks for the review.

Gill – Hey, nice to see ya again! And for your questions:

1. Takehiro and Kaoru used to be from a group in Japan and they had used codenames there. Their friend and leader, Miaso, thought this idea.

2. A reversed-edge sword is a two handed sword, which the edge is pointing in the opposite direction of its blunt side. I think that's what it means by 'reversed-edge'.

Thanks for reviewing and adding me to your favorites.

...You added me to your favorites? 0o THANKS! I'm so touched.

Aurora: And you just realized that.

Ta-dao – Thanks for your review!

Next chapter will come pretty soon. Hopefully in three to four days.


	2. Chapter 2: Takehiro: Spy

**Chapter 2**

_( Verdaifei Two-hundred one-thirty_

Today, I only stole a bundle of these round rations. Not good but will have to do. Don't know how humans can digest this. I really miss tasty, mouth-watering megai berries...

I wonder if GP Headquarters will ever know that I am here. Maybe not. I've been here since the verdaifei our ship was crashed. That same verdaifei Prince Elfangor dead.

I have been struck on planet earth two verdaifei before I started this account. If I die and a civilized Perinduro finds this, please tell all my comrades that I loved them.

...Okay, enough of my will.

Meow, meow, meow! >

Hey! Leave my D-log account alone, X-Fel! This isn't your account!

Two humans just walked out their shelter. One said something about 'box'. Are they referring to the Escafil Device? Could they have it? Only one way to find out!

Meow, meow? >

No, you stay put. I had enough of your help.

Pbbttt! >-sticking tongue-

Oh, put a gaie in it.

_End of Verdaifei Two-hundred one-thirty )_

* * *

_  
_**Takehiro**

"So what are we going to do today? Helping sick animals? Cleaning up the stables? Returning an animal to its habitat?" I uttered like a child.

Kaoru stared at me like I had an extra head. "We're not here as zoo keepers!"

Cassie laughed as she placed back a mole into its cage. We were in the barn. Cassie is lucky to look after all the animals here. Her parents are vets and it's their duty to help sick, injured and helpless animals.

Cassie's the type of girl who's always helping and helpful. Her skin is darker than mine. She does have the same black hair like ours, except much curly and shorter. She has a heart of gold when it comes to caring for animals.

I volunteered to help out. So I'm a sucker for animals, big deal.

"So exactly why are we the only three only to hide the box?" I asked. Now you're wondering why we have to hide the box? After our last mission, which makes it Kaoru's second one, Jake decided we should hide it somewhere safe.

Before Kaoru joined the Animorphs, she was a lonely girl with a terrible past. That took a detour when she found the box.

...With a little help from a ferret.

Since then, she's been in the team and she had never felt so alive and happy. I was happy for her. She was so gloomy since the day Kaoru's best friend, Sakura, died when we were ten.

Actually, before Kaoru even found the box, it was first found by a boy named David not long ago. He used to be an Animorph until things got out of hand. He was a rat now. Literally.

After that, mostly everyone was suspicious that Kaoru would be like David. But she wasn't and she won't be like him.

"Well, everyone else is busy right at the moment," Cassie replied.

"And Ax?" Kaoru asked.

"He's out with Tobias, watching for anyone who might be spying or just dropping by."

I always get the feeling Kaoru liked Ax. And that Ax liked Kaoru. Ever since Kaoru gave Ax a necklace without knowing he was an alien in a human disguise, he has been emoted more to her than anyone else.

I'd better watch him. If he comes too close to my kid sister, I'll-

"Hey, earth to Takehiro," Kaoru called. "Hello? We need to cook up a hiding place for the box."

"Huh? Oh. How about under Grandpa's bungalow?" I quickly suggested.

"Come again?" Kaoru said shockingly.

"Grandpa hasn't been in the basement for...who knows when. Plus no one visits Grandpa except me and Kaoru."

"No postman?" Cassie asked.

"Grandpa gets his mail from the post office. Don't ask how. We don't know either."

"Still we have no clue whether Grandpa can find it or not," Kaoru stated. "He always can tell we're up to something and he'll do nothing to get us to spill the beans."

Grandpa is our guardian. He's the one who taught martial arts to me. He also taught kendo to the both of us. He may be a little strict but still he's our grandpa. He's also a retired ninja.

Why we moved here instead of live in Japan forever is because our mom told us to stay here. She never gave a reason why.

But that never bothered me. I guess she just wanted us to stay here while she was in the hospital due to her sudden blindness.

"Yeah. Don't want to get Grandpa involve with this. It'll give him a heart attack," I said.

"Please. He looks like he can live another fifteen years," Kaoru mumbled.

"So...anymore ideas?" Cassie inquired.

"Hmm..."

Swoosh!

I heard it. Something moving above us. I guess Grandpa's blind training worked my ears up. Kaoru and Cassie didn't hear it. They were too engrossed in their conversation. I looked at the beams of the barn.

A few rays of sunlight streamed through the breaks of the roof so it was too dim to see. A black figure jumped from a beam to another. My eyes shot wide. We weren't alone.

The figure was about Kaoru's height yet it didn't look human. It ran across the beam like a cat on the fence. I could have sworn I saw two amber eyes glowing under the shadows. Staring down at us. Not only that, two long large things that looked like rabbit's ears moved about like satellites.

It was hearing us. I turned back but my gaze watched it listen to us.

"Maybe somewhere in the forest? Or at the cliff?" Kaoru went on with all the suggestions she could think of.

"Takehiro? Are you alright?" Cassie took notice of me looking up.

"Continue talking," I whispered. "Talk something else."

"What?" Kaoru uttered.

"We're being watched."

The barn became silent. Very silent.

"So has anyone thought of where we should release 'the eagle'?" I said.

They looked at me as if they were clueless. I had to give one look until Kaoru understood.

"Yeah. So far, it's either the forest or the cliffside. Hey, Cassie, maybe the cliffside is probably a very nice place for the eagle," she said with a wink.

"Oh, yeah. It will be great for it to fly in open space," Cassie joined in.

Again, silent.

I looked up to see the figure still watching us. We stood still, not moving a muscle. It drew back its head and backed away slowly.

It was taking the bait. Thinking we didn't have the box. Then-

SWOOSH!

A bird soared in from the barn's window and attacked the figure with its talons. The figure tried to shove it away. It sheltered its head from the scratches the bird threw. Seeing it had a disadvantage, it then took a dash across the beam and out the window.

It's getting away!

Tobias.

"Quick!" I shouted, running to the door. I heard something land outside. It must have fallen pretty hard. This was a great advantage. If it had broken some bones, then it had no way to go. I hurled the door open.

It was gone. No figure on the ground. It couldn't have survived that fall and ran away.

"It's gone!" I shouted.

"What was that?" Cassie asked.

"Tobias, you saw it, right?" Kaoru said.

All I saw was fur and a pair of yellow eyes, Tobias said. The red-tailed hawk perched on the sill of the window. Like it was a huge cat.

"Or maybe something more than just a cat," I said.

Guess we have another job to do.

* * *

Anonymous-cat – Yes, you got that right. The first part is Ryo-Mew-Ki's diary. And she does have someone else with her but I'm not gonna spoil the story. Thanks for the review. 

Baranth – Aurora: Well, humanoid, have would you like battling against a dragonoid, hm? -Starts transforming-

Vickie: -Slams a chair at Aurora and watches her faint- Oy, you can fight her in Strands of Destiny. Not in this fanfic. And don't worry. Ryo-Mew-Ki will be alive for the next few books. And I am very sure I didn't get that name from that comic. I simply did this. Ryo-Mew-Ki's real name is Ryoroyohaniga-Mewkagiro-Kigomotoillka and since her race wants to shorten their names, they shorten it by using the first letters of each name. Thus Ryoroyohaniga-Mewkagiro-Kigomotoillka was shortened to Ryo-Mew-Ki. Of course it was then I found out that it was the same as Ryo-Oh-Ki. Didn't realize that. But anyhow I kept this name cuz it fits her feline character. Thanks for reviewing.

The Fair Lady Psyche – Mostly some somehow came from my weird world of dreams like the Karine and Ryo-Mew-Ki's origin and the alien race that is ruled by a bloodline who can use the Karine but the name Jauria did come off slightly from the Tenchi Muyo. I ran out of ideas for the name. Gomen. And thanks for reviewing and adding this to your favorites. Hope you like this update.

Gill – Don't worry. I'm taking longer to update because I've got two fanfics to do, one joint Harry Potter fanfic to prepare and school to attend. So you'll expect each chapter to update VERY long. And the alien should be arriving in the 5th or 8th chapter. Somewhere there. And you're welcome! Thanks for your review!

Sorry to all my readers I took so long! I was busy with a lot of things! I hope you like this new update!


	3. Chapter 3: Kaoru: Investigating

**Chapter 3**

_Verdaifei Two-hundred-one one-thirty_

I've found it. The Escafil Device. Now all I had to do find out where the humans keep it and when they leave, take it and hope for help to come from GP Headquarters. The humans were going to hide it. I waited to hear the location but they changed their pattern. They must have spotted me and were trying to fake their pattern. They wouldn't say the box's location. I had to draw back. Rule O-C, Line 1029472561734A, contact with humans is prohibited at all cost. I'll have to wait for another verdaifei.

Problem was some strange flying creature with a beak attacked me before I could make my move. My fur's all dirty and I just cleaned it two-ninety one-thirty ago verdanifei. Once I have completely healed up my cuts, I'm going to find out the whereabouts of the box.

_End of Verdaifei Two-hundred-one one-thirty_

**

* * *

**

Kaoru 

Everyone was called into the barn that afternoon. I didn't know their reaction would be if the others heard that someone was spying on us. But then again, I think it was the same when they suspected me of taking it a while back.

"What do you mean some huge cat was eavesdropping about the box!" Rachel yelled, enough to scare the animals in the barn away. It was enough to scare my brother away.

Rachel is like a walking _Mademoiselle_ magazine but a warrior princess. Rachel's the type of girl that can look so prefect even when she goes through every single disaster you can think of. I wonder if it's supernatural.

I feel she has this magical shield protecting her from all sorts of dirt and messes. Don't know how she does it but she does it.

"We don't even know what it looked like," Takehiro said timidly as he felt his collar tighten. Rachel had held him closer by his collar.

"From what Tobias saw, it looked like a human with large ears," Cassie told them.

_-Who looked and went like a cat-_ Tobias added. He was on the beams above us. Tobias was once a boy but he got struck in his red-tailed hawk morph a long time ago. He got back his human morph when Ellimist came to him.

"When did you first saw this?" Jake asked. Jake, the leader of the pack with a sense of responsibility. Of course, he's more stressful than Miaso is at managing the group. But I'm sure, as long as he doesn't feel pressured and get some support he can handle things smoother.

That's what I predict.

_-Somewhere in the forest this morning. It kept on leaping through the treetops. When it was heading to the barn, I thought I should follow it. -_

"Okay, time out. Do you expect us to believe some cat the size of a kid was spying on you guys?" Marco asked as if not taking this for real. "This is rich."

Macro, the only guy I wished had tape around his mouth. What ever comes out of his mouth is a remark that makes me want to punch some sense into him.

"I saw what I saw. It was standing up there, watching us. It had those yellow eyes and it did look like some freaky cathuman," Takehiro protested.

"Could it be an alien?" I said. Everyone looked at me. "Well, couldn't it?"

"Maybe. But we can't be sure," Jake exclaimed.

"All we know is it could have been a Controller wearing a costume for a party," Marco joked.

"As if a Controller would be stupid enough to wear a cat costume in the middle of summer," Rachel growled.

"Ax, what do you think?" Jake asked.

Ax was in Andalite form, his original appearance you might say. Okay, maybe you would get a shock if you saw him for the first time. He looked like a centaur with blue fur. Although centaurs don't have tails with killer scythes, no mouth and four eyes, two of which are on stalks. Yep, that's what he looks like. But he's not all that scary once you get to know him well. He's actually nice in his own nature. One thing you may find odd about him is the necklace around his neck.

Actually, there's a pretty small story behind that necklace. I was the one who gave it to him before I found out he was an alien. At that time, he was in his human morph, lost in a mall. I helped him out by getting him to the information centre. Thought his friends would be looking for him there.

_-It could be a Perinduro, Prince Jake,-_ he suggested.

"A what?" Marco uttered.

_-The Perinduros are a race of warriors that believed strongly in laws and technology. They have the capability to copy. -_

"Copy what exactly?" Jake asked.

_-Identities, memories, abilities, and even the ability to morph. They are the only race that can morph one part of their body or morph fully. However, they are incapable of using two or more morphs at once, Prince Jake. -_

"Ax?"

_-Yes, Prince Jake? -_

"Please don't call me prince."

_-Yes, Prince Jake. -_

I sighed. Jake might as well give up.

"So what you're saying these Perinduros can copy anything and use it as a weapon?" Takehiro asked, seemingly understand all this.

_-Yes. They are the only race that is helping my people. -_

"What do you mean by that, Ax?" I asked.

_-The Perinduros know about the Yeerks and have joined forces recently to fight against them. The head of the Perinduro's GP Headquarters has agreed to help the Andalites. I wonder if it is a stranded Perinduro. -_

"But what could a Perin...whatever you call it be doing here? It doesn't make any sense," Rachel said.

"And we haven't heard anything about an alien crash," Jake pointed out.

"Now here's the question. Why would it want the box? 'That' doesn't make any sense at all," Takehiro said.

"Could it be a Controller too?" I asked.

_-No, it couldn't be. There hasn't been a single Perinduro Controller...yet,-_ Ax said.

"So what should we do? If it's after the box, who knows what it might do," Cassie said.

_-The Perinduro might be hiding and saving its energy at this moment. -_

"If that's what it's might be doing, we'll have to hide the box somewhere safe," Jake said.

"Yeah, but where, Einstein?" Marco said.

I gave in some thought. Then I said, "How about somewhere in the forest? We can hide it in one of the trees."

"Which tree, pray tell?"

"It's just near the cliffside. There's only one tree with a hole in it. No one would expect to look in a hole."

"It's still a risk," Jake said cautiously.

"We don't have to leave it there for so long. We can repeatedly hide the box in several places. It'll be too hard for anyone to find it."

"Oh, I remember. That's what we did back in Japan. In our twenty-third mission," Takehiro said.

"The one when we found a suitcase of a chip for a new machine that was worth millions and we had to hide it because the burglars were looking for it?"

"No. That was the twenty-first mission, remember? It was the one when Miaso accidentally found that artifact at the back of the dojo and we had to hide it in several places before we handed back to the museum. The crooks who dumped it there were really determined about turning the dojo upside down just to find it."

"Oh, yeah. That mission."

"Actually what did you do in Japan?" Marco asked.

"Nothing much. Just did some good deeds," I said.

"'Some'? It sounds like a lot of good deeds..." Rachel muttered.

"I guess it's settled," Jake said. "Ax, how long does the Perinduro need to recover?"

_-About fifteen minutes, in your earth terms. Since they greatly depend on technology, Perinduros have made many apparatuses such as bio-systems. -_

"What the heck are bio-systems?" Marco asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No time. We got to hurry," I yelled, getting to my feet.

"Why?" Cassie asked.

"That's how long it will take to reach the tree."

* * *

Tigerlily-2250 –You got that right! Ryo-Mew-Ki is in fact staying in the twins' basement! And thanks for the review! Hope I didn't make you wait too long. ; 

Anonymous-cat – Why, thank you. All the different words you see are in fact words that only Perinduros use so you can understand why Ryo-Mew-Ki's saying all those words in her account. Verdaifei IS a measure of time. And how she disappeared is simple but I'm not gonna spoil it. I'd be telling how powerful she is before the next chapters come. Thanks for reviewing!

Gil – Don't worry, you'll know her along the way. And I meant that she'll make a FULL profile to the Animorphs in the fifth or eighth chapter. It doesn't mean she won't appear so often. Thanks for reviewing.

John – Uh, if I'd make this a true crossover, I'd be having another headache. :P I'm already preparing a crossover of Chrono Cross and Threads of Fate with a friend. Preparing means we haven't post it up YET. Thanks for your review!

A/N: Next chapter will come as soon as possible! I hope...


	4. Chapter 4: Kaoru: Surprise attack

**Chapter 5**

{`Verdaifei Two-hundred-nine one-thirty`

My cuts have been healed. My bio-system is functioning properly as it should be. The healing progress has taken shorter than I had expected. Now all I need is to follow those humans, find the Escafil Device and...

[ Weow weow? ]

What will I do next? Well...

[ Weow?]

I have no idea, okay?

[ WEOOOW! ]

Stop crying! I'm the one who should be doing the crying!

After getting the Escafil Device, I will figure out what to do next. I must find it at once. 

I have spotted some strange flying creatures in the atmosphere. One of them was my attacker. And another has...HAS THE ESCAFIL DEVICE?! How the yaheo did those things get it from the humans? Well, makes it an easy job. 

`End of Verdaifei Three-hundred one-thirty`}

Kaoru

We were flying our way to the cliffside, the spot were I used to stay and think about my feelings when I was alone, before I joined the Animorphs. And I do mean flying. 

Well, we were flying in our bird morphs. It's cool when you're flying. Catching a thermal in the sky. But now was no time for thermals. Not now. 

[ Kaoru, can I ask you a question? ] Marco asked. He was in his osprey morph.

[ What? ] I asked, flying in my merlin morph. 

[ Which tree!? There are a million of them! ]

[ The only one at the cliffside, ] I answered.

[ Is that it? ] Rachel asked. She was a bald eagle, the largest among us. 

At the cliffside was a lonely tree standing just a few feet away from the edge. Just within its trunk was a hole that I found when I found this hiding spot. Nothing has lived in it so it was a good spot to hide a very important box.

[ Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer, ] Marco mumbled. 

[ How much longer do we have till that Perinduro gets better, Ax? ] Jake asked.

[ About four minutes before the Perinduro is fully recuperated and begins to search, Prince Jake, ] Ax replied. He was a northern harrier. 

And for the rest, Cassie was an osprey and Takehiro was in a morph of a goshawk. In his right claw was the box. Soaring by was Tobias. 

[ Right. Let's dive quickly and hide it, ] Jake commanded. 

We all dove and landed just near the tree. It took us a while to morph back to our original selves. Well, for Ax, just to morph back into an Andalite.

"Right on time!" Marco shouted once his beak was a formally mouth. 

"Don't be too cocky. We still have to hide it and get out of here before that alien comes looking for it," Takehiro said. He and I were trained ninjas so we knew how to strategy. 

"Tobias, check out if it's coming," Jake gave an order and at once Tobias left, scanning out the forest.

[ I'll go with him too, ] Rachel said and she took off after the red-tailed hawk. 

"So this is the hole?" Cassie asked. 

"Yeah. Don't worry, there aren't any squirrels in it," I said.

"So just toss it in already," Marco yelled.

"Sure, sure," Takehiro uttered, rolling his eyes. He was ready to place the box gently into the hole. Everything was going right in order. 

Then we heard it. Just us twins. 

A rustle in the trees. Coming fast towards us.

"Something's coming!" Takehiro and I shouted.

"What do you mean something's coming?" Cassie cried.

Swoosh! 

A figure leapt out of the treetops, covered in rags. We couldn't see what it looked like but we saw two amber eyes staring from under its hood. It landed on the ground on all four like a cat and gave a hissing sound. 

"Okay. Now that's one big cat!" Marco hollered.

It glared steadily at us and then slowly and slowly to Ax. I saw its eyes widened as if it was in shock.

{ You! } I heard it speak. Or maybe I heard it in my mind. It was like a thought-speech. At the sound time it sounded like the creature spoke. Through its unseen mouth. And it sounded like...a girl. 

Under the creature's rags, a sound that sounded like metal swinging muffled. Suddenly retractable claws in the shapes of thin long knifes grew from her hidden arms. She got onto her two feet like a human. 

{ Murderer! }

She dashed, taking a leap towards Ax, flashing her claws. Ax quickly drew up his tail blade and shot it at the creature.

KA-CHANK!

Both tail blade and claws hit, making a loud noise. The creature somersaulted back, forced away by Ax's tail blade. She landed on the ground, still glaring at us.

{ Visser Three! You murdered Prince Elfangor! } she hissed.

Our mouths dropped, except me. I didn't know who Elfangor was but to call Ax Visser Three was one big shock for all of us. Ax's expression was readable from his four eyes. He was as shocked as ever.

Visser Three is someone you don't want to mess with. Visser Three is the only Andalite Controller. The only Yeerk to control Andalite. Our enemy. I've met him once. The Animorphs did say that I had attacked Visser Three with only a sword subconsciously. But I don't exactly recall much.

"Did it just call Ax who I think it just called him?" Marco said.

The creature revealed an arm. Or I think it was an arm. Her arm was covered with white cream fur. Not only was it covered with rags as well but a layer of clothing underneath the rags. The clothing was different, the material almost alien. 

It started to change. Her retractable claws started to merge together. We heard the bones in her arm crunch and shift. Her fingers also joined together, forming into one blade. Her elbow was changing, taking shape like a joint of a segmented insect. The blade, which was now large, long and metallic, was like a claw of a praying mantic. 

[ She has the Grayi morph? ] Ax uttered sharply. 

"Wait!" Jake shouted to the creature. "How do you know of Elfangor?"

{ Human Controller! } she hissed instead of answering. 

She raised up her blade and immediately, she flung the blade out of her socket! Disconnected from her elbow! The blade spun like a chainsaw, giving off a whistling sound. 

And it was heading at Jake! 

I jumped, pushing him aside. The blade just missed us. Almost. I saw a bit of my hair cut off. It went on spinning until it came cutting the tree we were supposed to hide. It split the trunk into half. That would have been Jake if I haven't pushed him aside. 

It came spinning back, shooting towards the creature. She raised up her half-gone arm and instantly the blade connected to her elbow.

Another arm shot from her left, also changing into another blade. It was going to be twice the attack. While her left arm was changing, she again shot the blade from her right.

"Morph!" Jake quickly shouted as we dodged the spinning blade. 

It came twirling towards Takehiro horizontally but quickly, thanks to his instinct, he jumped and watched the blade spin underneath him and onwards. 

I was starting to morph into my snow leopard. My hands were turning into claws. By now gray hair was sprouting over my skin. Whiskers sprung from my cheeks. I felt my ears point up. 

Marco was morphing into a gorilla. Jake halfway into a tiger and Cassie into a wolf. Takehiro was turning into a walking reptilian being. Like Godzilla. 

The blade came connected to the creature's arm. Her other arm was fully changed into an identical blade. She then took a dash. For a moment I thought she was going to attack all of us but her course changed quickly.

She was going to attack Ax. The creature took a leap.

FWAP! Ax's tail blade fired. 

KA-KANK! One arm-blade hit at the tail blade. 

[ I am not Visser Three! ] Ax hissed. 

{ Lies won't get you anywhere, Yeerk! } the creature snapped. 

[ It's one against five! We can tail her down! ] Jake ordered, now a complete form of a tiger. [ Marco, grab her! ]

Marco's huge hairy arms were stretching out at the creature but he wasn't fast enough. The creature noticed him as if she had heard Jake's order. Forcing the arm-blade onto the tail blade, the creature hauled herself up into the air, missing Marco's arms. She gave a somersault in mid-air before releasing her arm-blades at us. 

One arm-blade almost cut at Cassie's tail when she grabbed it with her paw. The other was going to slash me in half. By instinct, I moved quickly, avoiding it. I heard it whistle near my ear. 

The creature landed on the blunt part of Ax's tail blade and glared at him with fiercely yellow eyes. She was powerless now. Her arm-blades were still far from returning.  

[ You have no more weapons. Stop this assault. We don't want to hurt you, ] Ax said. 

{ Wanna bet? } she hissed calmly. { X-Fel! }

Ax's eyes shot wide. Out of her hood, a three-dimensional object came hovering. It was in a shape of a pentagon and was smooth like it was made of mineral or something. 

[ Weow! ] the object cried, darting towards Ax. Its edges cut near his eye. He arched back in pain. 

His tail blade drew back and the creature leapt before she would fall off. In mid-air, she rose her arms and the blades came whistling to her, connecting to her elbow. She drew down her blades and let gravity take her down. 

{ Die, Visser Three! } she cried, daggering her blades at Ax. 

Before she could harm him, I took a pounce and grabbed her with my retractable claws. I drew her down, pounding her to the ground. 

Then I felt a cut. She had shot the blade and it slashed at my stomach. I fell aside and saw my own blood slip out. She quickly got up, ready to obtain the spinning blade when she stopped. I knew why.

The box was just near her. 

[ Oh-! ] Takehiro shouted. It must have fallen from Takehiro's hand when he jumped to avoid the blade.

With one arm-blade gone, she reached out with her half-gone arm. It was changing, revealing a coat of fur over it. A hand took form. She was going to grab the box. 

Takehiro opened his mouth and his long snake-like tongue slithered to the box. He caught it and drew the tongue back to his mouth. He clamped the box tightly between his jaws. 

The creature hissed and quickly stood up. The other arm-blade came spinning at her and instantly connected to her elbow. The pentagon object hovered at her aid. 

{ Give me the Escafil Device or this human gets her neck cut off, } the creature demanded, aiming a blade at me. 

The pain wasn't bad. I was trying to stand on my four paws. I could see Takehiro wasn't going to give me because of me. His clutch on the box was tight. But I knew he was worried about me. 

If one of us made a move too soon, she would fling her one blade at me. Still Takehiro wouldn't budge to give it. 

[ Wait! We just want to talk, ] Jake shouted.

[ And for your information, we're not Yeerks! ] Marco said.

The creature ignored them and was ready to throw the blade at my neck.

Then a pair of hairy large ears popped from under her hood. Pointing to the sky. 

There flying in the sky was Tobias and Rachel, all darting towards her with talons. They attacked her, scratching at her repeatedly. The creature hissed irritably, swinging her blades at the birds like swapping at bees. 

She gave another hiss, a curse maybe and leapt into the treetops. She jumped from branch to branch with Tobias and Rachel still after her until we saw them disappear. 

Then Tobias and Rachel flew to the sky from a far distance. And we heard a cry.

{ Curse you Yeerks! } 

*****

Anonymous-cat – Yup, you got that right. Ryo-Mew-Ki is a solider of the GP Headquarters of the Perinduros. That's why the story is entitled The Solider. :P And that's a good idea. They should be called Copy-cats. Hee-hee. Thanks for reviewing!

Tigerlily-2250 – Well I tried my best to make this chapter longer for you. I can only write between 1000 words to 3000. But then again, the only chapter I've done before has 10192 words, 5000 more than my regular chapter. Thanks for your review.  

ta-dao – Sorry, they have been a little short. But I wanted to start the chapters a little normal. I've planned out how the chapters should go, along a normal-strange chart if you know what I mean. The next chapters will be longer and more stranger. Thanks for reviewing. 

Gil – Ryo-Mew-Ki is my own creation as I have explained about more than five times. *Tongue dry* If she was in another fanfic, I'll sue that author for taking my idea first! Ryo-Mew-Ki is officially mine. And now you see her here in fifth chapter as I said so. By maybe ninth, she should be captured by the Animorphs, give some common sense and reveal her profile. Thanks for your review!


	5. Chapter 5: Takehiro: Second Assault

**Chapter 5**

_Verdaifei Four-hundred one-thirty_

I had a serious attack a hundred verdaifei ago. Against five Human Controllers and Visser Three, the one who killed Prince Elfangor. The verdaifei I would meet him and have my revenge was that time until two flying creatures attacked me. One was my attacker. What are their links with the Yeerks?

I am now recovering under the shelter. Again, my fur is matted. Curse those attackers.

Weow, weow! >

Don't worry, X-Fel. Once I recover, I'm going back to that quarters they went in. And I will get back the Escafil Device from the Yeerks. After that, I will kill Visser Three. )

_End of Verdaifei Four-hundred one-thirty

* * *

_

**Takehiro**

"Are you all sure it's alright?" Kaoru asked. She had been a little worried about Ax when his face was cut badly.

But hey, who's not worried about her? I mean, she had her own intestines draw out. It's not like I was worried.

...So maybe I was very VERY worried about her.

"It's okay, Kaoru. He can heal himself when he morphs. Just like the rest of us," Cassie explained.

"Oh, okay."

"I just can't help but ask this one little question," I said, feeling rather ignored. "What the heck are you all doing in our house!"

The truth was clear. Everyone was in our house, in the living room. Like this was all some discussion room or something. We were all sitting on the living room floor. Ax and Tobias were in their human morph. And note this, Ax has this very weird human morph. He combined four DNA together to make one person. And the DNA of Kaoru and I are not included. That's because my sister wasn't there at that time and I didn't want him using MY DNA. He sat there gobbling up the steam buns that Kaoru had saved for snack time.

"Well, Daredevil, you did say your house was vacant for now," Marco intoned.

"I only said our grandpa and that little demon cousin are out!" I barked. "And that doesn't mean we can stay here! What if one of you turn into a animal here! How am I gonna explain that?"

"Say that you brought in a stray?"

"...Shut up."

"Let's just get on to what we were talking about," Jake ordered bitterly. "We know this Perinduro is after the box but don't know what reason."

"Don't forget," Rachel uttered. "This thing called Ax "Visser Three", remember?"

"What? Did this alien suddenly have amnesia or something?" Marco uttered.

Maybe this alien can't exactly tell the difference, Tobias suggested from his perch on the TV.

"And she looked like she was going for the kill," Cassie said worriedly.

"I don't get it. She's not only after the box but also the neck of our most feared enemy," I said. "She knew Elfangor too."

Kaoru suddenly put out her hand. "Uh, one question. Who's Elfangor?"

The room was silent. We all stared at Kaoru's mild curiosity. I nearly forgot that she has never heard the name before until now.

"Kaoru, remember that alien we saw at the construction site?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"That was Elfangor."

Another silent.

"...What did you say?" she asked.

"Elfangor," we all announced.

"One more time?"

"Elfangor."

The silence still hung.

"That's right. We didn't tell her about that alien," Jake exclaimed. It was then we all explained.

"WHAAAAAAT!" I could have sworn the house shook. "You mean to tell me that was a prince from the Andalite planet and he was the one who gave you that box! And he's Ax's brother!"

"Calm down. It was pretty surprising for us too," Cassie said.

"Well, it's not surprising that aliens land on earth and are taking over the world," Marco uttered.

"Come to think about it," I said. "That was the only ship crash we came across, besides Ax's ship."

"Now that you mention it, it does seem strange that this alien appears out of nowhere when there haven't been any other crashes lately. Do you suppose Elfangor had another passenger with him alive?" Rachel asked.

That was when Ax suddenly stopped stuffing his mouth.

"Maybe. But what would a Perindino be doing on board an Andalite ship? It doesn't make sense," Jake added.

"A GP-Soldier," Ax suddenly spoke out.

"A what?" Marco uttered.

"The armed forces of the GP Headquarters. For-cees. Most of the GP-Soldiers are to accompany the Andalites in their fight against the Yeerks. A-come-piny. Only the strongest can aid my people while the others must defend their planet. De-fan."

"So that Perinduro was on board with Elfangor. She must be after the box because it might have been her mission," Cassie exclaimed.

"Come again?" Marco intoned.

"Well, think about it. We're protecting the box from the Yeerks. And she thinks we are the Yeerks. She's trying to retrieve back the box."

"Well, we know what her reason is. But what's her link with Elfangor?" I asked.

"Ax, do you know any Perinduro that was with him?" Jake asked.

Ax didn't listen. Somehow he was in his own world. Barely touching the steam buns.

"Ax?"

"But it cannot be her...can it?" he said to himself.

"Can be who, Ax?" Rachel asked.

SWOOSH!

Something's coming! Tobias alerted.

KA-CRASH!

Sprinters of wood flew past our eyes, as the siding doors to our garden broke open. And I met face to face with the Perinduro and her long retractable claws daggering at me. You would expect me to scream but instinctively I grabbed her wrists and held back the claws as she pushed me downwards.

"Someone HELP me!" I yelled, trying to hold back her deadly claws from driving holes into my head.

"Morph now!" Jake ordered.

"No time!" Kaoru hollered and leapt, spinning into a kick. Before the Perinduro could react, she was flung off by Kaoru's martial art move and crashed into the wall.

"Alright! Now morph!" Jake uttered.

"NOT IN OUR HOUSE!" I yelled.

"Would you rather be sliced and diced or have your house thrown down?" Marco intoned.

"Neither!"

"She's gone!" Cassie shouted.

"Gone? What do you mean-" Marco and I looked back at where the Perinduro was. Indeed she was right. Our invader was gone. "Where'd she-!"

"Argh!" I heard my sister scream. I looked over and saw a wound suddenly inflicted on her arm. Blood spilled as she tumbled out onto the garden.

"Kaoru!" I shouted. We dashed out of the house. I was relieved that it wasn't too serious. Just a deep scratch.

"Gah!" Marco coughed as he was pushed aside as if some invisible hand punched him in the stomach powerfully. We could see the print on his shirt.

"Marco! You alright?"

"Where is she! What's going on?" Rachel shouted.

"She has the Chenoak morph!" Ax exclaimed, without playing his words. "She has accelerated her speed with that of the Chenoak."

"Can we stop her?" Jake demanded as we all gathered together, surrounding Kaoru and Marco.

"She is far too fast to be seen."

"Then how do we beat her!" Rachel asked noisily.

"Andalites can detect the sound of a Chenoak easily. I will morph into my Andalite morph and then-"

SWHISH!

I heard the Perinduro shoot her weapon. We weren't fast enough to try and yell, "Ax, watch out!" but Ax was faster to respond.

FWAPP!

Ax's morph had taken place. The scythe tail slithered out quickly from his pants and encountered the Perinduro's claws and circumvented her attack. The Perinduro was thrown back, skidding across the ground. She stood up boldly and flashed out her claws while Ax morphed into his Andalite morph fully. Before Ax could be ready to attack, the Perinduro suddenly disappeared in a flash.

"Not again!" Rachel yelled, ignored by her sudden disappearance.

"Takehiro, can you use that Shields of Karine?" Jake inquired.

It's a shot. "Let's see give it a try. Just one thing."

"Yeah?"

"How do you call upon the Shields of Karine?"

"You're supposed to know that!" Rachel hissed.

"It only comes naturally!"

Then at that moment, I heard something whished above my head, something sharp like a knife.

"Takehiro! To your left!" Kaoru bawled.

I swiftly turned and as if it was part of my nature, I held out my hand.

SHASH!

Instantly, the three familiar giant plates encircling a circular transparent shield, all made entirely of light had suddenly appeared before us. I heard a "Bonk!" sound as we watched the Perinduro crashed head into the shields and fell down with a bleeding nose.

Jauria! Impossible! How could a Yeerk get control over a Jauria? ) she hissed after she got up, holding her nose under her hood.

"We are not Controllers!" I shouted, retrieving back the Shields to who knew where the Shields of Karine disappeared to until they were needed to be called again.

Lies! )she hissed furiously and dashed quickly in regular speed, not the speed of whatever it was.

Ax galloped in.

FWAPP! KA-CLASH!

Both scythe tail and claws met in the sounds of blades hitting each other. The tension was high. Ax was protecting us with every strike of his scythe tail. The Perinduro assaulted every strike with the blows of her swift claws, countering.

"Like I said before, morph!" Jake demanded. We didn't need to be told thrice.

I concentrated on the Komodo dragon DNA inside of me. Slowly, my skin started to dry and thicken like armor. Then quickly, it turned to scaly green and pebbly. My tongue stretched and narrowed, poking out of my mouth. The tip split into two and soon my tongue was yellow.

That was the disturbing part about being a dragon but I've been through more gross morphs than this!

The mind of the dragon was, simple, ancient. A predator's mind. Focused on only one thing: food.

No...wait! This wasn't what I was supposed to do. With an effort, I focused to the battle before us.

The bones of my hands crushed and shaped as my fingernails became longer and sharper. My jaws painlessly shot out and I felt my teeth enlarged, curved and jagged, enough to tear flesh from bones. I dropped down on all fours as my tailbone began to stretch out from the base of my spine, becoming into an enormous tail.

ERG! ERG! ERG! ERG!

The tail spurted out in bursts.

The heat of the sun gave me energy, strength. The power of the dragon was strong in daylight, much stronger than any other time. Which is why I really need to get a morph for nighttime.

Jake was already as a tiger. Cassie into a wolf while Rachel was a bear of powerful claws and teeth. We raced into the fight. It was five against one opponent. As long as we avoided her claws, we might be able to beat her.

Jake leapt; bearing out his retractable claws but the Perinduro noticed and dodged the attack. Landing to the massive arms of Rachel.

Just when Rachel was about to rip her into two, the Perinduro hurdled and soared up in one somersault. She dived back down, and like a bolt from the blue, she scraped robustly at Rachel's back. Ten deep slices dug into her fur and skin.

Arrrgh! >Rachel screamed as her massive body tumbled down.

Rachel! > Cassie cried.

Rachel, are you alright? > Tobias inquired at full volume from above.

I'm okay...! > she replied.

Suddenly, out of the blues, something brown wrapped around Cassie's neck. It was long, narrow and furry. The tip of the tail was creamy white. Another one wrapped around Jake's.

And they both tightened. I soon realized what they were. They were the tails of the Perinduro, having shot out from her cloak and elongated. The tails drew Jake and Cassie down and dragged them across the grass, choking them to death.

Cassie! Jake! > I yelled.

There's no way of beating her! > Tobias shouted.

Ax arched his tail and fired it at the Perinduro but the alien lifted up her claws and caught it between the needle-shaped claws. There was a struggle. Ax couldn't retreat back his tail. The Perinduro couldn't fight back. But the tails gripped tightly around Jake and Cassie. I had to do something. I scampered in.

X-Fel, get rid of that Human Controller! ) the Perinduro ordered and out shot the flying crystal from her cloak.

Weow! > it wailed proudly.

And it was heading towards me. Like a chainsaw ready to saw me in half. I ducked. And felt it fly above me. And something falling off. I looked over and met my tail. Or what had been cut off. The tip of my tail has been slashed off. I had expected blood to be pouring but it wasn't. The tail was a clean knob. No blood, no pain. It was a shock that I have lost my tail!

Surrender now, Visser Three! ) the Perinduro mocked. You have lost. )

Perinduro! We are not your enemy. Stop this at once, >Ax demanded. We mean no harm! >

She's not going to listen to you, > I said and leapt.

I scratched her with a fling of my powerful claw, ripping off her hood. Strangely enough, a green drop of blood tinkled out from the small cut. I skidded across the ground and turned up, ready to attack, this time with my poisonous bite. But the Perinduro held her face, perhaps feeling the small pain as she backed away. The tight grips of the tails around Jake and Cassie's neck loosened and shortened to the size of a baseball bat. They could finally breathe easily. The Perinduro looked up, moving her clawed hand away. And nearly all of us gasped.

It was like meeting a girl, about our age, only with a hair problem. She was covered in a thin coat of brown fur all over her body, from head to toe. Her long jagged hair was cherry light pink that waved wildly. Every end of her sharp locks was dipped in black like it was dyed.

Her ears were extremely long and merely flurry, extending out like cable satellites. The tips of those ears were slightly black and slightly white. One ear was clipped with a tag. Her face was the likeness of a cat: her nose was a black dot and her upper lips made a distorted inverted smile, the smile of a cat. That is if she was smiling. She was bearing her teeth and gritting them.

Her eyes were almost entirely yellow: the iris and the supposedly whiteness were gleaming amber. As well as rage.

She glared irritably at us.

Now, you've made me very angry, ) she hissed.

Ryo-Mew-Ki? > Ax shouted out loud, his four eyes wide as ever.

The Perinduro shunned her head, shocked. Was that her name?

She then gazed quickly around. Jake had gotten on all fours and stalked near. Cassie was ready to attack. I was moving in closely, ready to bite the Perinduro. Rachel, regardless of her injuries, got up and walked closer. Tobias, in the sky, was about to dive down and assault her with his talons.

We were closing in on her. The odds were against her. She could see she was outnumbered. She glared angrily at Ax.

You...! I will never forgive you, Visser Three! You may have taken Prince Elfangor but I will take you down with my life! I oath it! )she yelled. Surprisingly, tears were falling from her eyes. Was she crying? We all could see her pain in these eyes.

With that, she darted into the treetops and disappeared quickly. With the treetops shielding her from Tobias's talons and eyes, Tobias lost track of her halfway beyond the forest.

"Phew. Glad that's over," Kaoru sighed.

"For a while," Marco managed to speak with a moan.

"Kaoru, are you alright?" I asked worriedly.

She gave me a weak smile. "Yeah, it's just a scratch."

"Hey, what about me?" Marco asked, still clutching his stomach.

"A scratch? You're lucky that your arm didn't get cut off!" Cassie cried out.

"Don't worry. It's nothing. Really," Kaoru told us.

"Hello? This guy is barely alive here," Marco intoned.

"We should get that wound bandaged," Jake suggested.

"I said don't worry. I've faced much more than a scratch."

"Yeah, listen to her. I have just been punched right in the guts and she has a small scratch. No big deal," Marco noted.

Are you sure, Kaoru? > Ax asked awkwardly.

"I'm alright, Ax," Kaoru replied, her cheeks suddenly turning red. "Thanks for asking."

"Hellooo! Have you all forgotten about me, the great one who's a member of this group?" Marco snapped.

"Oh, shut up," Rachel quieted him down.

It was then we heard someone calling. It was in the house, near the front door. It sounded like...

"Oh no! Grandpa!" Kaoru and I shouted.

"What's Grandpa doing here! He isn't supposed to be home early!" I shouted.

"What are we going to do! The doors!" Kaoru yelled. "The room!"

"Grandpa's gonna kill us!" I whined.

"What are you going to do?" Cassie asked apprehensively.

"You just get out of here! I don't want to have to explain why we have a blue centaur in the middle of the garden!" I shouted. "Quickly!"

Good luck, Tobias said, hoping that we would try to give an explanation for the broken doors. He then soared away.

Jake helped Marco up on his feet and the whole gang ran out of the garden and into the forest, along with Ax galloping after them.

As they were just gone, Grandpa came into the living room and sighted the mess and the broken doors. We were in serious trouble.

"Kaoru. Takehiro. What happened here?" he asked with his tone of discipline.

"We, uh, had kendo practice?" I lied with a weak laugh. Kaoru cackled timidly.

An hour later after Grandpa's arrival, we have spent the rest of the afternoon with the greatest punishment ever toiled upon us.

"Kaoru?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do we get ourselves in these messes?"

"Less talking and more cleaning," Grandpa uttered calmly. "And once you're finish with this room, you will clean the toilets to pay for the damage you recklessly caused."

We were on our knees, cleaning the living room floor with rags and a pail of water. Grandpa had seen through my white life. Because of our so-called 'reason' for the broken doors, we have been resulted to cleaning the floors and the house.

"What did we do to deserve this?" I groaned loudly. Kaoru just kept quiet, with a disappointed face.

* * *

A/N: YEAH! THE FANFIC REBORN! I FINALLY GOT TO FINISH THIS CHAPTER! -somersaults happily about- I've changed some stuff in the fanfic and deleted one chapter but added it to another because they look fitting together. So that is why we are still at ch. 5 but a NEW chapter of 5.

To Anonymous-cat and Little Midgett, thanks for the reviews!

I am so sorry for taking this long. I just hope you'll all like this chapter. PLEASE REVIEW!


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